Love never ends
by Elisabeth BK
Summary: What if, at the end of Season Three, Angel had never left town but had stuck around to see how the story unfolds?
1. Chapter 1

**Love never ends**

**Pairing: Buffy/Angel (what else ;-))**

**Spoilers: Buffy Season 3, after the last episode**

**Disclaimers: I don't own any of the characters and I don't use them to make money. Nothing's mine but the idea to the story.**

**A.N: Please review! I hope you like it =)**

It was close to midnight and the rain kept falling on Buffy's face as she was sitting on a gravestone once again. It had been a slow night vampire-wise and the Slayer was far from thinking about any vampires rising tonight. Actually, her thoughts were stuck, once again, on a certain vampire who wasn't around enough. And at the same time... too much.

"Hey", Angel suddenly said and Buffy was so startled she fell off her gravestone. "Sheesh, could you ever not sneak up on me when I'm hunting? I could have staked you!"

What was he doing here? It had been exactly a week since her graduation and his promise of leaving afterwards, though it had filled her with dread up until a week ago, would now be very welcome to her. She couldn't stand having him around all the time! He was everywhere. Whenever she was slaying or the Scooby gang were researching or Buffy was trying to take her mind off of him by pummeling a few demons, he was there, fighting alongside her and her friends as if nothing happened. But so much had happened between them. He had broken up with her and now he was always hovering over her. How was she supposed to be moving on?

"Sorry. I was just walking in the neighborhood and I saw you sitting here. I just thought you might need help with the slaying," he said, trying to help Buffy get up from the ground. However, she didn't take his offered hand and only murmured, "It's okay. I don't need your help!" Buffy wanted to get away from him as fast as possible so she took one last look around the graveyard and started to walk away.

"Wait. Where are you going?" Angel followed her. "Ahm, home. It's late and there are no new vampires tonight," Buffy answered over her shoulder while quickening her pace, praying he would take the hint and leave but he didn't. "Okay, I'll take you home. It's on my way, anyway." That did it. Buffy was tired of trying to spare his feelings and telling him to butt out in a nice way. This was too much, he was too near and she was too near breaking down and crying her heart out because he didn't want to be with her anymore. Also, she didn't understand anything anymore. Why was he still around?

She turned around and looked him straight in his dark brown eyes as she said, "No! I don't want you to take me home. I don't want you to go slaying with me. I don't want to have you hanging around all the time. It's painful, okay! Look, I appreciate that you're trying to help but I can't have you around me all the time. It hurts! It really hurts and I just... I really need space, Angel, please." Her tears started to spill over and Buffy turned around to hide them from him. Since she didn't hear any word from him, she just took off and ran home.

Angel was speechless. He could only stare after Buffy as she ran away crying. God, what had he done? He had really hurt her, maybe even more than she had let on just now. He knew, he had said that he would go, that he would leave Sunnydale after the Ascension but he couldn't. He somehow couldn't bring himself to leave her, his only love. He couldn't live without her. Maybe he had realized that too late. He had told her to move on. Wasn't that exactly what she was trying to do? What he had wanted her to do all along? What he was keeping her from? He couldn't give her up that easily. But, at the same time, they could never really be together. The curse and so many other things stood between them. The constant danger of losing his soul was making it impossible for them to even contemplate having a relationship with each other again. Angel was furious with the world, with himself, with everything. He would have liked to kick something but that wasn't going to help him. He needed.. a plan. And for that he needed... one of the most intelligent people he knew. And, since she was the only living human being who had ever experienced that kind of magic, he needed... a witch.


	2. Chapter 2

**A.N.: Here's Chapter Two, hope you like it and thanks for the review SMGbest. =)**

The light in Willow's bedroom was still on as Angel was standing on her balcony pondering how to begin this conversation or if she would even let him in. Willow had never exactly been against him but he didn't really know where she stood now that he and Buffy were separated. Not for long he hoped.

Willow was sitting on her bed, brushing her red hair before going to bed. It was already late and all her family had gone to bed but Will couldn't sleep yet. She was still waiting for Buffy to call when the blonde got back from patrol because the redhead was really worried about her friend. Ever since Angel had broken up with her, Buffy had been rather careless when she was hunting. To Will, it had almost seemed like Buffy's life wasn't worth that much to her without Angel in it. Her and Xander had, of course, taken turns going on patrol with Buffy after that but Angel's reappearance and continued presence wherever Buffy was had made their presence unnecessary. A sudden ringing startled her, drowning out the noise of a quiet knock on her balcony door, and she hurried to pick up the phone.

Angel was about to leave, hearing Willow was talking on the phone. He wanted to give her her deserved privacy but upon hearing her say Buffy's name, he stopped in his tracks and decided to eavesdrop.

"No, Xander, I haven't heard from Buffy yet. She can't really call me when you are calling me every five minutes. Yes, I'm also worried, but she wouldn't deliberately get hurt. I'm sure she's okay! Xander, you know we don't need to tag along on patrol with her, I'm sure Angel was there. He's been hanging around a lot lately. You know, he would never let her get hurt, no matter how reckless Buffy gets. I'll call you after I hear from her!"

Buffy was getting reckless? On patrol? That could get her killed! Now he really had to talk to Willow, no matter her privacy. He knocked again, this time louder, and Willow opened the door. "Oh, Angel! Ahm, can I.. ahm, help you?" she asked. "Can I come in?"

"Oh, of course! Sorry, I forgot about that spell we did to keep you out when you were, ahm, you know, bad. So, what's the matter? Oh my God, did something happen to Buffy? You were supposed to protect her dammit, I knew one of us should have gone with her! Where is she? Why didn't you call or .. or," she was rambling now and Angel rushed to interrupt her. "No, Willow, nothing happened to Buffy. I was on patrol with her, she's safely at home, I promise. So, why don't you tell me why you think something happened to her and why would you go on patrol with her? And please, tell me the truth, I kind of overheard your conversation with Xander," he sheepishly admitted. So Willow told him of her and Xander's agreement to keep an eye on Buffy and the roots of their concern.

"So it's my fault! I really can't do anything right. Willow, I made a terrible mistake. How could I ever think I could leave Buffy? And now she will never forgive me. She can't even look at me without breaking into tears!" Will answered, "I know you couldn't really leave. I knew from the moment you got sick from Faith's poison. You might not remember but when you thought I was Buffy, you..." "I remember. I told you I couldn't leave you," he dimly recalled that moment, shortly before Buffy had come and cured him with her blood.

Willow continued, "And from that moment I also knew you still loved her. Buffy is wrong. You really did only leave because you're afraid the curse would be broken again. Which is why... I looked into the curse again. Please don't get your hopes up!" At Angel's hopeful look, she had to tell him, "Look, I haven't found anything yet. Right now, I'm still stuck on translating. When I cursed you the last time, I felt something go through me, like the ghost of the gypsies' magic. And I understood their language. Now, I don't. But, maybe, with Giles' help I could access Jenny's documents and maybe alter the curse in order to bind your soul. But, to get Giles' help in this is maybe not the best idea, I don't know. Let me try but please, please do not tell Buffy. If we get her hopes up and nothing comes from it, it would be devastating for her!"

Angel was stunned and frankly, despite Will's warnings, filled with hope. "Willow, please try to change the curse. It would mean everything to me and to Buffy. I … I can't tell you how much this would mean to me!"

"I know. Look, tomorrow, I'm gonna get right on it. I'm gonna go to Giles' house and ask him. But, it's kinda really late and tomorrow will be a long day if we're trying to help you, so...," she left her sentence unfinished but Angel took the hint, said goodnight and left.

His thoughts and feet took him once again to 1630 Revello Drive where he staid, watching a particular window with no light showing anyone was occupying it, until the first rays of the sun forced him into the shadows.

It was barely past 8 o'clock in the morning when Willow dragged Xander, Anya and Oz out of bed and to Giles' house. Bright and early they knocked on the Watcher's door and came face to face with Giles who was already up, drinking his first tea of the day.

"Good morning. What is the cause for this early attendance?" was his greeting as he led all four of them inside and into his living room. Willow took this as her cue to fill everyone in on her and Angel's plan. Of course, some of them were not so happy with the thought of helping Angel, namely Xander, "Now we're helping Dead Boy?" But everyone could see Willow had her 'I'm serious' face on so the discussion turned from if they should help him to how they could help him. Anya and Xander stuck their noses in Giles' books and Oz went through the documents Jenny had left behind while Willow and Giles concentrated on the original curse. The work was slow-going, they were still not cleverer by midnight when Angel showed up to offer his help. "Yeah, why not. I could use a hunk to look at right now," was Anya's contribution. "Well, I'm already here," Xander said, trying not to show he was offended. "I think she wanted to say that you're not a hunk," Oz said in the same matter-of-fact tone he always used. "Thank you, I got that. I'm used to my ego getting wounded, you know. I mean, after a relationship with Cordelia..."

"Okay, here's the deal. We still need time to figure the curse out. But there's one thing I'm certain of. In order to bind your soul with the same curse as the gypsies only altered, you need to lose your soul first because we need your soul in the … well, wherever it goes when it's not in you. Then the orb of Thesula is going to keep your soul until I can get it into your body again with the gypsies' spell and make it permanent with the altered part. In short, when we have the new curse and everything is ready, you need to lose your soul. Through Buffy," Willow added, unsure if their plan would work. There was still so much work that needed to be done and Buffy would never sleep with Angel as long as she thought it was gonna cost him his soul again. The trauma of killing him was still haunting her dreams and Willow didn't think Buffy could kill Angel again. She loved him far too much, even after everything they had been through.

It took them three more days to find a spell that could conjure up ghosts. It had been Anya's idea to simply ask the elder woman of the Calderash tribe how to change Angel's curse. However, Giles was sure that even if she knew how to bind a soul, she would not help them. His suspicions proved right not long after. At Xander's suggestion, Angel was not present when they performed the spell. The elder woman would not have been too fond of him. It turned out she was not too fond of Giles and Willow either. When her ghost materialized, the first words out of her mouth were, "What the hell do you want?"

Willow, taken aback by that greeting, spoke up, " We want your help. You cursed Angelus with a soul a long time ago. But the curse has a flaw. One moment of happiness can rip his soul from his body and make him a monster again! I know that he is not supposed to have even a minute of bliss but should it ever happen again, can you really live with yourself, knowing you unleashed that beast on mankind? I mean, not live with yourself, since you're ..ah.. dead, but if his soul was bound, if he couldn't lose it through anything at all, Angel would suffer eternally from everything Angelus did." But the elder woman was quite clever and already knew the real reason they wanted Angel to have a permanent soul. "Ha, do you think I don't know why you want to bind his soul? You want him to be able to have a relationship with the slayer, don't you? Typical! You think I am stupid because I am dead! But I am not going to help you to make the filthy vampire happy who killed the most beloved daughter of my tribe!"

Now Willow got really mad. "Oh, yeah? You're not going to help us? Oh, I think you are! Angel doesn't deserve to be punished for something the demon did. And neither does Buffy! They are both good people and more than once have they sacrificed their own lives in the fight for good. You are a selfish, old, narrow-minded .. ahm lady, that's what you are! Is vengeance all you ever think about? How is that vengeance for your people if Angel loses his soul and the demon kills innocent people? I am going to alter this curse with or without you're help and if it's the last thing I do!"

The elder woman calmly answered, "Alright. No need to get so loud over it. I am going to help you. Tell the vampire to go lose his soul. When the time is right, my ghost will take over your body and I will alter the enchantment and curse him again, this time permanently."


	3. Chapter 3

**A.N.: Third Chapter coming up, please review! Only one more to go after this. Thank you to SMGbest again, you're my only reviewer (for now, I hope ;)). I appreciate it!**

Not 30 minutes later, Angel was standing once again on the roof of Buffy house, looking through her window. He could see that she was already sleeping and he almost chickened out, not wanting to wake her up. Oh, who was he kidding? He wasn't afraid of disturbing her peaceful dreams, he was scared as hell. What if he messed it up? What should he say to Buffy? This was a unique situation, after all. It wasn't like he was just using her to lose his soul but he feared that she would perceive it the wrong way. He wanted her, no matter what happened. But he wasn't sure she even trusted him anymore, enough to help him bind his soul. He loved her and he wanted her so bad, which was exactly why he wanted his soul permanent. So he could show her just how much he loved her every day. But he also didn't want to rush things between them. After all, he had really hurt Buffy after their first time together and it couldn't have been easy for his love to face Angelus, who had surely mocked their time together. He mostly remembered what his alter ego had done as he had been tortured with the images in hell but he was still a little fuzzy on the details. It wasn't like he could ask anyone exactly what he had done. There was really no need to bring up those painful memories and there wasn't a day when he didn't regret what he had done. However, he didn't regret making love to Buffy. It was, after all, the best night of his life, or rather existence, and she was the best thing that ever happened to him. He loved her more than he had ever thought it was possible to love someone. And he had sworn to protect her. So he couldn't rush this. It couldn't be easy for her now to throw all that caution they had exercised over the last year, barely kissing or touching each other, away and simply give in to temptation. But he had to try. Maybe he wouldn't have to tell her. God, he was making himself crazy. No, he would stop thinking about it and just do it.

Silently he inched Buffy's window open. It opened without a sound and Angel remembered how Buffy used to leave it open for him at night in those few days before her 17th birthday. He tried to elegantly slide through the gap but he was so nervous he actually slipped and completely crashed to the ground. He could only hope that Joyce wasn't home tonight. He quickly stood up and made sure that Buffy hadn't woken up yet. She had only turned around in her bed and had a soft, dreamy smile on her red lips. For a moment he stood there, staring at his love, sleeping peacefully in her soft bed, hopefully dreaming of him. His nerves flaring, he crossed the room and neared her sleeping form, tracing his fingertips across her left cheek. He pulled his jacket off and left it hanging over the only chair in her room. Just as he was about to pull his beloved into his arms, she stirred and looked up at him through sleepy eyes. "Angel," the way she said his name never ceased to amaze him. "Mhh, I really like this dream," she murmured, pulling her angel closer to her and kissing his cheek. "It's not a dream, love." Before she could respond, or wake up enough to realize what was happening, he started to kiss her, gently at first, but then the passion he felt for her urged him on and he deepened the kiss, drawing his love even more to him. Buffy was surprised by the intensity of his lips in hers but she didn't mind. How could she? She had always loved his kisses. They made her feel so safe, so protected and incredibly loved. How could his lips make her feel like she was completely free of all her sorrows almost as if she were flying but at the same make her feel like she completely belonged to him and could never leave his side? Buffy's hands wandered from where they had been lying on his chest to twine in Angel's hair, pulling him even closer to her. The only thing on her mind was how much she didn't want him to ever stop. Slowly, Angel pulled back slightly only to place open-mouthed kisses along her jaw, her neck and her collarbone. Sighing, all conscious thought left Buffy as her lover leaned into her, pushing her back against her pillows. His lips returned to her mouth and his hands skimmed the hem of her shirt, his thumbs caressing the exposed skin of her stomach. Even Angel was lost in the heat of the moment, he had forgotten all about the plan but just as Buffy's fingers were fiddling with the buttons of his shirt, she suddenly pushed against his chest and said, "Wait! Wait, wait, wait! We can't. The curse. Angel, I can't do this!"

Angel blinked a few times before he could answer, his voice husky from the desire he felt for his beloved. "It's okay, Buffy. We can. We have to. Not.. have to. I mean, ahm... This is complicated. I talked to Willow and Giles about the curse. Willow thinks she found a way to alter the enchantment in order to bind my soul." "Bind your soul? But how? Is she certain? I mean, will it work?" Buffy was confused. If this should work, they could be together, right? Or..., or was that what he even wanted? He had said that he didn't want to be with her. He didn't love her anymore, did he? Why did he want to bind his soul? So he could be with other girls or just to ensure that the demon would never surface again? What if, oh God, what if he wanted to make his soul permanent so he could move on? Tears began to well in her eyes as she realized that that must be the reason why he still stuck around after their breakup. "Buffy, I'm pretty sure it will work. Will is doing this with the help of the gypsies' elder woman, it can't go wrong. But I need to lose my soul first, so I can be cursed again. And when I become Angelus, you need to call Giles because then they know to start the enchantment. Hey, don't cry, love. Everything is going to be okay. I promise."

She only nodded and buried her tear streaked face in his chest, hugging him to her. His arms circled her body and he kissed her forehead, wondering why she was crying. She raised her face to his and kissed him again, determined to follow through with his plan. He would lose her soul in her and her friends would curse him again, for real this time, never to be lost again. No matter what his intentions were or where he planned to go from there, she just wanted him to be happy. So, for that night, she simply gave up all of her thoughts and lost herself in Angel's arms.

A few hours later, Buffy awoke in the arms of her angel with a blissful smile on her face. Not wanting to think about their situation but, knowing that she would have to prepare for the fact that Angelus was going to be in her bedroom soon, she decided to wake Angel. Kissing her way across his chest, up his neck and finally reaching his lips, she delighted in the moments she could still spend with him. Still half asleep, he opened his eyes and kissed her back, trying to tell her trough this simple touch of lips how much he loved and cherished her. "Morning," he whispered against her lips, smiling her favorite crooked smile. "Morning. Are you still okay, I mean, you know?" "Well, I'm not feeling anything yet... Ahhh!" he suddenly screamed. "Buffy!" He tried to back away from Buffy, getting out of bed, he swiftly pulled on his clothes. Buffy followed suit and reached for her cellphone, dialing Willows number as fast as she could. "Hey. It's happening! He's losing his soul NOW! Hurry!" She had turned her back on Angel while being on the phone and his groans and screams were agonizing to her. But suddenly the sounds stop and before Buffy was able to turn around, she felt herself being lifted into the air and thrown across the room, right against the door to her room.

"Ah! What the hell?" she gasped and looked up at Angel. But it wasn't her Angel who was looking back at her through those familiar brown eyes. "Angelus," she said menacingly. Getting up, she was prepared to fight back should he attack her but he was quicker than her and swept her feet out from under her. Immediately, she tried to get up again but the demon was already on top of her, holding her hands over her head, thereby keeping her from freeing herself. "Let go!" she screamed, writhing underneath him, trying to escape his wise-like grip. It was impossible to get up so she settled for sinking her nails into his hands and aiming for his crotch with her knee. With a groan, he practically collapsed on top of her and and she shoved him away with as much force as she could muster. She tried to get up off the floor, though she only made it too the window before her enemy had caught up with her again. After spinning her around to face him, his fist smacked her right in the jaw and she was disoriented for a moment, the sheer force of this blow was almost enough to knock her out. When she fell to the floor, Angelus kicked her in the gut and Buffy began to cough up a few drops of blood. The demon bent down, packed her by the arms and drew her to him until she was standing right in front of him, wincing because of the pain. Angelus put on his game face and said, "Any last words? You made me feel like a human, you made me love and then you sent me to hell. Well, love, I saved you a seat!" Grinning, his lips exposed his fangs with a terrible snarl, he bent down and put his mouth to her neck. She cried out when he bit down but, as hard as she tried to struggle, he wouldn't let go and he kept on drinking until he felt a searing pain stab through his body, forcing him to release her. Clutching her bloody neck, she fell to her knees and crawled over to his shaking form lying on the floor. "Angel?" she asked hesitantly. He looked up at her, smiling, "It worked! I'm back." "Thank God. One more minute with Angelus and it might not have ended so well..." The ringing of the phone interrupted Buffy and she picked it up, already knowing it would be Willow checking on them. "Yeah, it worked. I mean, we don't know if it's permanent but he's Angel again. Yes, I'm okay, I swear. See you later."

Angel got up and pulled Buffy with him, though when he tried to hug her he saw the bite mark on her neck, exactly where he himself had bit her not too long ago, as well as the smear of blood around the wound. "What happened? Did I.. bite you? Buffy? Buffy!" But the latter had already lost consciousness and was hanging limply in his arms, not responding to his recurring shouts of her name.


	4. Chapter 4

**A.N.: Here's the last chapter, people. There's some anxiety here, so will there be a happy ending? ;) thanks for reading this and a special thank you goes to SMGbest! I really hope you liked reading this as much as I appreciate that you took the time to review! =) **

The lights flickered overhead, reflecting off the stark white walls and the linoleum floors of Sunnydale hospital. There were next to no people left on the corridors after 3 o'clock in the morning, apart from several doctors wearing the same far too clean white as the paint on the wall. The was only one man, dressed completely in black, staring at the only clock on the wall, which was stuck on 3.15 a.m. At least, it seemed to Angel as if the hands were not moving at all, stuck on this one moment of insecurity, of pure anxiety, mocking the fact that he didn't know, had no no way of knowing what was happening with his beloved.

Angel had carried Buffy's limp form into the hospital, again, running as fast as he could with an odd sense of déjà-vu. He could only hope that Buffy would recover as quickly as she did the last time. However, he seriously doubted it. The doctor had asked the same questions again about the origin of the bite, whether they were doing drugs or not, etc.

Then they had sent him out of the room and had been doing who-knows-what ever since. Probably giving her a transfusion. God, he had been too careless. He should have chained himself up before letting the demon take over. He also should have told Buffy earlier. She would have been better prepared, he took her by surprise with his plan after all. He also didn't know what else Angelus had done to her, maybe she was bleeding in other places too. He wondered if he should have told the doctor that. God, what was taking them so long. He needed to know what was wrong and now. But no one came. And the clock was ticking but it's hands didn't move.

The minutes continued to stretch, 5 minutes became 15, and before he knew anything more about Buffy's condition, the clock showed 4 a.m. and footsteps could be heard rushing down the corridor towards Angel. He didn't bother to look away from the clock on the wall, he already knew it was Giles in the company of Willow, Xander, Oz and Anya. They silently sat down next to him, no one knew what to say, they already knew that the vampire had no news to give them. Xander was the only one who couldn't sit down and watch a closed door. He needed someone to blame. "How did you let this happen? We had a plan! And the end of it was not: and then Buffy is lying in a hospital bed! You should have made sure this wouldn't happen!" he accused Angel. "Xander," Willow chastised him, "Don't blame Angel. There was a flaw in the plan. I didn't think of this either! I thought that it would take longer for him to lose his soul and that the spell would take less time. We couldn't have known. None of us could have." Giles added, "It's none of your fault." He patted Angel's back, a gesture that astounded everybody including Angel. "But it is! I should have prepared Buffy better, maybe chained myself up, I don't know. God, what if.. what if I lose her now? I can't be without her. She's the only one I ever loved, she is everything I have. Giles, I know what I did to you. And I know I never really said anything but I am more sorry than I can say. I know that Jenny meant as much to you as Buffy does to me and if there was any way to bring her back, I would," for the first time, he apologized to Giles, though he knew there was nothing he could do. You couldn't raise the dead.

"Stop blaming yourself Angel," Willow addressed him, "nothing here is your fault. Angelus bit Buffy and he killed Jenny, not you. Believe me, when you first regained your soul I wasn't too happy that you and Buffy were meeting again and I also wasn't ready to forgive you. None of us were. But that's exactly where we were wrong. We didn't make a distinction between you and the demon, we were blinded by our need to blame someone. Only Buffy saw the difference. She told me that she could easily tell by the look in your eyes. You didn't do anything to us. Remember, you helped us where you could and you also made Buffy's life better. She needs you. So, who are we to judge? You might still be a vampire but your soul is permanent. Angelus isn't ever coming back."

Everyone pondered this in silence, the only sounds were coming from the clock and the soft beeping of the monitors in the rooms of the patients. Angel could also hear the soft sounds of several hearts beating but suddenly one of these rhythms was interrupted, a monitor signaled that a heart had stopped and all the doctors in the room hurried to save a life. Looking at each other, the Scoobies simultaneously stood up and rushed to the window while Angel, acting on impulse and desperation, ignored the fact that he was not supposed to be in Buffy's room and ripped the door open, his eyes took the scene before him in and a ringing was in his ears as if the silence of Buffy's heart was enough to silence his whole world. The doctors were doing their best but it simply wasn't enough. They were giving up. "No! You can't give up!" he interrupted the doctor who was just about to declare the time of death. Angel pushed everyone aside and went to his beloved's bed. Taking her hand and kissing her knuckles softly, he whispered, "I love you. Please don't leave me. Come back to me." His lips touched hers with the softest of caresses and miraculously Buffy opened her eyes. None of the doctors could explain what had happened but neither Angel nor Buffy's friends cared. Buffy was exhausted, not so much from nearly dying but rather because it had been a really long day. The doctors wanted to keep her in the hospital over night, just as a precaution and while everyone went home to get some sleep, Angel stayed by Buffy's side the whole night, holding her hand while she slept peacefully beside him.

Only the first rays of the sun made him retreat to the mansion while Willow and Oz went to the hospital to get Buffy home. Although, they weren't heading home. Everyone had gathered at Giles' house to welcome Buffy and it was decided that she should stay with her Watcher until her mother was back from L.A. "This is really unnecessary! I can take care of myself, you know. I'm completely fine! After all, it's not the first time I died for a few minutes. Oh, God, there won't be three Slayers now, will there, Giles?" Buffy protested this arrangement. "No, I don't think so. The Council has enough on their hands with you and Faith. And it is out of the question. You are staying here where I can keep an eye on you." However, he corrected himself a second later when he noticed Angel standing in the doorway with a blanket over his head, "Ahm, I have to leave you for a short while. I need to go to the kitchen to make.. tea. Yes, ahm, a little help might be useful. Xander?" The boy was confused, "Why do you need me to help you make tea? That usually doesn't involve two people, does it?" Oz, getting what Giles was playing at, took Willows hand and remarked, "I really need fresh air. And Willow, too." The redhead caught on fast, "Yeah. We both need fresh air. Fresh air is good. Everyone needs it, right?" And with that the living room of Giles' house was suddenly terrifyingly empty except for Buffy and Angel who stood opposite each other, each facing the ground, not knowing what to say. Buffy was wondering whether they were officially together now and she was highly nervous because his answer might not be what she wanted to hear. It had always been complicated between them but now they could really be together. It was simply too good to be true.

"Look, I... Before you say anything," Buffy began,"I want you to know that I really don't blame you for biting me. It wasn't you. And, honestly, I was taken by surprise. Last night just happened so fast and... ahm, I don't regret it, ,you know. I mean, your soul is bound and that's just what we always wanted right. And now you can move on too, I mean, I guess you still haven't changed your mind about leaving, have you?" Buffy hoped against hope that he wanted to be with her. Now that the curse was not a problem anymore, it would be so much easier. And she loved him far too much to let him go.

"No. No, I can't move on. I was honestly kidding myself in thinking that I could ever leave you. God, you're the only one I ever loved. I love you, Buffy! And I'm not gonna leave you. My soul is finally permanent and without you that would mean nothing to me."

She only smiled and threw herself into his arms. Finally, she had her Angel back and nothing would separate them now. They indulged in a long and passionate kiss before breaking off when they heard Willow cry, "Finally!" Xander merely sauntered out of the kitchen and said, "Please, keep it PG or get a room." Buffy couldn't stop smiling and neither did Angel which was a sight to behold. "Man, I've never seen you smile before," was Oz' contribution to the conversation. "There is only one thing that can make me smile. She's my everything," his eyes locked with hers and with all the love he felt for his beloved his lips met hers in a passionate kiss.


End file.
